


The "S" is Silent

by Rattrap



Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2019-11-03 16:42:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 8
Words: 8,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17881439
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rattrap/pseuds/Rattrap
Summary: Follow the adventures of team RVSN (it's pronounced 'raven' (reread title, not just poetic) and before you ask, no, ms. Branwen is not involved) as they blunder through Beacon!(Information unable to be crammed into the above summary is stated below)This is my first work EVER and I'd appreciate any and all criticism, including the negative kind, just don't be a dick about it, this story is set alongside the series, everything team RWBY went through will, in some way or another, affect team RVSN such as the first day at Beacon and the Vytal Festival and such... This is kinda dragging on, I'll just put the rest inside... Or not, READ AWAY!





	1. Guts, Bimbos, Secrets and Parents

**Author's Note:**

> Updates WILL be few and far between (like months or even years) as I have a lot of other stuff going on right now, (no it has nothing to do with getting the Gungnir helmet from Halo: Reach, why do you ask) but DON'T WORRY I'm not gonna give up on this because I have everything planned out, I just need to wait for the finale to get the ending because as I said before, this runs alongside the series... I think I've said enough... Or not, READ AWAY!

By all accounts Red Bark was an intimidating man, not because of his stature, but in the way he carried himself, slightly hunched, always with a hand drifting near the six-shooter strapped to his right hip or hovering by the single-barrel sawed-off break-action shotgun with a built in chainsaw-bayonet on his lower back, as he stood in line waiting to board the airship to Beacon Academy, he began patting down his equipment searching for something, starting from the bottom up, examining his armoured boots he thought to himself, ‘ _I_ _probably_ _should_ _have_ _cleaned_ the _mud_ _off_ _a_ _bit_ _better_ … _or_ _is_ _that_ _guts_ … _what_ _did_ _I_ _step_ _in_ _last_ , _the_ _mud_ _or_ _the_ _guts_ ’, as he continued his search, he noticed a large gash in inch thick plating of the right greave, muttering something about “Fucking beowolves”, moving past the battered knee pads, glancing at the large pouch strapped to his left thigh, he shook his head asking himself, ‘ _what was I looking for again-oh right, scroll’,_ reaching for the interior of his blood-red trench coat, his hand bumped into his chestplate, “Fuck”, reaching his gauntleted hand up to massage his forehead, an audible ‘THUNK' resounded in the lobby simultaneously followed by a ‘Fuck’ and a chuckle.

 

(Can't find line break button)

 

As Violet Ray ran towards the airship terminal with a duffle bag on one shoulder, a backpack on the other and a suitcase trailing behind, she glanced at the clock on her scroll, and seeing she was on time for once in her life, she let out a sigh and slowed her pace, ‘ _Oh_ _I_ _can't believe I made it into Beacon, And on time to’_ , she thought with a smile, as she entered the terminal, she saw a line of heavily armed teenagers, and, making an educated guess, she took her place at the back of the line, she took notice of the smoking hot blonde in front of her, she decided to make her presence known, “Hey there cutie, come here often?”, as the blonde turned around, Violet noticed something… familiar about her, “Really? You're gonna use the cheapest pick-up line on Remnant to break the ice?”, Familiar-looking Blonde said with a smile, as she finished turning around, FLB gave Violet an odd look,

 

“What?”

 

“Are you sure you're in the right line?”

 

“This is the line for Beacon right?”

 

“Yeah but you aren't exactly dressed for the occasion”

 

She looked down at her clothes, taking note that FLB was right, all she had on was a pink t-shirt and black slacks, “I just woke up five minutes ago, my usual attire is in the suitcase, my armour is in the duffle”, she responded, before adding a moment later, “And my weapon is in the shop for repairs”, Receiving an understanding nod, FLB put a smile on her face and said “ Well it's nice to meet you I'm Yang”, sticking her hand out, she accepted, giving Yang a firm handshake responding with “Nice to meet you my name is Vio-waitaminute… aren't you that girl who burned down my favorite club?”, Yang began the old “reach behind the neck and give a nervous smile” routine, complete with nervous chuckle, before zeroing in on something behind them, blurting out a surprised “RUBY?”, receiving an equally surprised “SIS?”, before quickly excusing herself, ‘ _ Well  _ that _ could have gone better… AND SHE NEVER EVEN TOLD ME IF SHE LIKES ME! _ ”, giving herself a quick mental kick, she turned back around and prepared herself for whatever the rest of the day had to offer.

 

(Why is it so hard to find the fucking line brake button?)

 

A little farther up the line and leaning against the wall, a different blonde was watching a man in unpainted armour and a dark-red leather trench coat ‘ _remember, they trust you, they wouldn't have you do this if they didn't think you were ready_ ’, as he bonked himself in the head, she failed to suppress a chuckle, the man in red reaching for his pistol before clenching his fist and muttered “What's so funny?”, openly smiling, she reached down to her rather sizable pile of bags, rummaging through on before pulling out a helmet of her own, placing it on her head and giving it two solid taps, “Nothing, it's just that my helmet protects my head, what does yours do?”, sighing wearily, he plopped himself onto a large black-with-red-trim trunk, before saying, “It protects my head alright, the visor also has night-vision and it's fully sealed, I've also got an air filter so unlike _your_ open-faced design, I'm not gonna drop in the event of a chemical attack”, she gave him a look halfway between amused and insulted before pressing a button on the side of her helmet, dropping an orange-tinted visor and causing a pair of plates to slide in front of her mouth, “Believe me, I have that covered”, leaning forward, he placed his elbows on his knees and speaking in a gravelly voice most likely due to aforementioned air-filter, “Name's Red Bark, now it's _your_ turn”, she crossed her arms over the black leather jacket she wore before cocking her head to the side, “Sandy Shoal”, she said crisply, ‘ _this_ _one_ _is_ _on_ _the_ _list_ ’.

 

(Mother fucking line break)

 

As two figures sat in the passenger compartment of the high-end Atlas airship, one of them decided to break the increasingly uncomfortable silence that was growing, “Are you sure you want this sweetie?”, the older man in the stark white suit said, worry heavily inlaid within his tone, “ For the last time father, I have made up my mind, I want to be a huntress, not an office-worker crammed within a cubicle”, she replied coolly, “Yes dear, your mother and I have resigned ourselves to your decision, it's just that-” he broke off, fighting to hold back tears, “What's wrong father?”, worry now creeping into her tone as well, “ It's just that we love you very much, and you could get hurt or-or worse”, he said as he reached for the handkerchief in his pocket, “Oh father, this is a school, the worst injuries I could get are a few cuts and bruises, I'm not going to be hurt”, she said with a reassuring smile, “I know you're right dear, but I'm a parent, I'm supposed to worry about this kind of thing”, he said as he pulled her in for a warm hug, “I'd hate to interrupt this tender moment, but we've arrived at your destination, right on schedule Ms. Steele”, the pilot spoke over the intercom, “Yes Reginald, punctual as always”, replied the elder Steele with a small smile and a shake of his head, “Thank you for the lift Reggie”, spoke the younger Steele, “Anytime, Nexus”, as she bid her final goodbyes and grabbed her luggage, she stepped off the airship and onto the main walkway that lead up to Beacon, she stopped for a few seconds to take in the view, amazing arches, grand gardens and the like, but as an airship pulled up behind her she decided to continue down the path, getting about halfway before seeing a luggage cart surrounded by servants being “directed” by a girl with a lopsided ponytail that could only be effectively pulled off by one person, “ Weiss?”, as Weiss turned with a look of confusion on her face that was quickly replaced with one of calm, she inquired, “Who are you?”, she said coldly, Nexus tilted her head in confusion before having to stop herself from slapping herself, she removed her helmet a look of recognition dawned on Weiss’ face,

 

“Nexus, I had didn't recognize you with that helmet on”

 

“Well  _ some _ of us prefer to fight in armour, rather than a  _ dress _ ” she retorted,

 

“It's a  _ combat skirt _ thank you very much” she replied with a smirk,

 

“How've ya been, I haven't seen you in… shit, two years?” she said in disbelief,

 

“And in all that time, you still haven't learned any manners”

 

“And you haven't lost your snark”, they both broke out in laughter before Weiss cleared her throat, “I'd hate to cut this short but I have a lot of stuff to take care of”, she said regretfully, “Yeah, no problem we'll catch up later”, she turned and walked away, pulling the introductory pamphlet out of her pocket, searching for somewhere to go, seeing a speech scheduled to be in a few minutes, she looked around before spotting a woman with blonde hair, glasses and a swirly looking cape-thing, “Excuse me…”, she trailed off, “ Professor Glynda Goodwitch”, she responded, “Yes, um, Professor Goodwitch, I was wondering where we're supposed to go for this speech thing I see”, showing her the pamphlet, Goodwitch examined the pamphlet, giving her a nod before saying “Of course, right this way”.

  
  
  



	2. Welcome to Beacon, Bitch!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What? Are you to lazy to read a chapter to figure out what's going on? You suck... Or not, READ AWAY!

As Violet grew tired of standing in the crowd after fifteen minutes of waiting, she looked around at her fellow classmates ‘ _HOLY SHIT… that's_ Pyyrha Nikos _, I didn't know she'd be going here… there aren't really a lot of people who wear armour here, suckers… oh that's a nice bow, ooo Ozpin’s coming!_ ”, clearing his throat, he began to speak, “I'll, keep this brief, you all traveled here in search of knowledge”, he announced, meanwhile in the back of the amphitheater, leaning against the wall, Red gave a weary sigh, ‘ _Oh no, it's one of_ those _speeches,he better not be lying about keeping it brief or I'm-_ not _going to stab someone in the neck_ ’, letting out another sigh, he pulled a water bottle out of his backpack and took a few large gulps, before returning his attention back to Ozpin, “...you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people, but I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, you need a purpose, direction, you assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far, it is up to you to take the first step”, as he finished talking, Sandy, with her ever-present smirk, muttered to herself, “Crazy old fool”, before turning her attention to Professor Goodwitch, “ You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins, be ready, you are dismissed”, as Nexus looked around, she wondered to herself just _exactly_ what she had gotten herself into after that _enlightening_ speech.

“ Well if that doesn't put a spring in your step…”, earning a few chuckles from those around her.

 

(Note to self:  _ ask _ about line break)

 

Placing his sleeping bag in a secluded corner, Red looked around before shaking his head, he pushed his large trunk in front of the uncomfortably snug mat to create a semi-effective barrier to the outside world, he groaned inwardly as he heard footsteps approach from behind, “Do you bring that bulky crate with you  _ everywhere _ you go?”, Sandy asked, bewildered by his strange behavior, “Why are you bothering me?”, he asked as he turned around she realized that because he wasn't wearing his armour, she would get a look at his face for the first time, and what she saw didn't really surprise her, he had short brown hair, a rather… lithe face, oh, and a giant fucking scar over his left eye, which had gone white (while the other one was brown like hers) that seemd against his pale skin, almost like he never took his helmet off, “Take a fucking picture, it'll last longer”, he spit out, “Oh… um, I'm sorry, it's just-”, he narrowed his eyes and took a step closer, “Scary? Vile? Disturbing? What?”, he said growing angrier with every word, “ No, nononono, no, I was actually goi-”, interrupted once again, but this time by a newcomer to the corner, “ Holy  _ crap _ dude, what happened to your face?”, as they both turned to look at the boy, Red's face grew eerily calm, before asking “What's your name?”, the boy gave him a confused look before responding, “Cardin”, Sandy stood by, just as confused as Cardin was as Red began rummaging through his trunk, before standing up and turning around with his revolver in one hand a single bullet in the other, and a wicked grin on his face, “Well Cardin, care to play a game of Vacuan Roulette with me?”, unlatching the cylinder, loading the bullet, and leveling it right between Cardin’s eyes (which went as wide as baseballs) he said in a carefully modulated tone, “Go away”, Cardin, with both hands in the air, began slowly backing away before turning around and running full speed in the other direction, tripping on a girl as he ran, not even turning to look as he called back, “Sorrycantstoplunaticchasingme”.

  
Cackling to himself, he gave a simple "What a bitch" before looking over to Sandy, who was staring at him in disbelief, before he held out his left hand, with the bullet still resting in it, “Oh I  _ do _ love a good magic trick”, she said with a smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reading over the last two chapters was... Embarrassing? Humiliating? I don't know, but they're awful, so from now on I'll take the time to "polish up" a chapter before I release it unto the world.
> 
> In other news, I've noticed a SEVERE lack in Halo works on this site, so I've decided to change that, I'm working on a one-shot entitled "Regret" so go ahead and check that out when you're done with this, or not... READ AWAY!


	3. Initiation pt 1

As students awoke to perform their morning routines, get breakfast, and prepare their equipment for today's “event”, Violet went over to the docks to await the arrival of her weapon, the owner (Pam) said she normally didn't deliver unless if there were special circumstances, and in this case the special circumstance was the delivery of some armour pieces to her favorite customer, so she was kind enough to bring her weapon along to save Violet the hassle of making the trip into the city, and as the bullhead arrived, she noticed a student in a red trench coat leaning against a light post with his arms folded across his chest, and as Pam exited the ship she threw her arms out wide and exclaimed “Well if ain't the Maniac of Mistral ‘imself, I almost didn't believe you when you said you got into Beacon, how’d ya pull it off?”, she said with a huge grin, “It was actually pretty easy, I uh… ran into a friend of Professor Ozpin’s and he “gave me a letter of recommendation” and they let me in free of charge on the condition that I don't stab anyone on campus”, he said flatly, at this point, Violet felt she had to speak up, “I'm sorry, but did she just call you the “Maniac of Mistral” I thought that was just a story?”, they both turned to look at her at the same time as if they had forgotten that they weren't alone, “Well kiddo”, Pam spoke up, “all stories ‘have a basis in reality, and you're lookin’ at ‘im”, Red stepped away from the pole before putting his hands on his hips and asking, “You don't believe her do you?”, she scoffed at him before responding, “You had to have been what? Twelve? When you single-handedly slaughtered entire bandit camps”, she said in disbelief, “Well what do you know about how the bandits were killed?”, he said giving a knowing look to Pam, “Well I know that he used a chainsaw and a shotgun for most of the killings-”, he pulled out his shotgun-with-a-chainsaw-bayonet, “It's name is Lawless”, Pam, beginning to look uncomfortable, began rummaging through her bullhead as Violet continued, “And the small amount of survivors say that they only lived because the Maniac loaded five rounds into a six-shooter and had the last six bandits in a line-up”, pulling out his revolver he said “Justice always shows mercy”, gesturing to the revolver.

“Wouldn't it have been quicker to name them both ‘Vigilante'?”

“Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as “Lawless Justice” does it?”

“You're a monster”, she said, horrified,

“Sorry I killed all those _innocent_ _criminals_ ”, he replied coldly,

At that moment, Pam came out holding an ornate metal case with an engraving of a figure firing a large sniper rifle at a line of beowolves, “I got Triumph’s Lance all fixed up, try and avoid the mud puddles next time”, as Violet took the case her silver eyes never left his mis-matched pair.

(Where on Sergeant Avery Junior Johnson's mean green earth is the line break button?)

As Red went over the new armour plates, he folded up his trench coat and placed it in his trunk, which he had hidden inside an empty storage closet, checking his scroll for the time, he saw he had just enough left to go to the locker room and begin strapping his ammo and-assorted-whatnots to his armour before he had to head to the cliff, as he entered the locker room he couldn't help but notice two girls talking amicably, and more importantly, one of them was holding an epic looking gun in her hands, thinking something along the lines of his friend making record being one friend to two enemies, he decided to try and even the score, he put on his best “friend-making face” before remembering he was wearing a helmet, he gave them both a wave to get their attention and said’ “Hi I'm sorry to bother you two but I just had to say, your gun is fucking awesome, what's it's name?”, the taller blonde one spoke up first, “ Hey look Rubes, it's another weapon geek just like you!”, as “Rubes” elbowed the taller girl in the ribs, she whispered not-so quietly “Shut up, Yang”, before responding with, “I'm Ruby, this is Crescent Rose, that's my sister, Yang, and my gun is also a scythe”, she said with a smile,

“That is fucking awesome dude”

“Oh, it totally is isn't it! Hey, where's your weapon?”

“I'll be right back”, heading to his locker (which was, coincidentally, four lockers down) he pulled out Lawless, spinning it around his finger once, “This beautiful baby right here is Lawless”, he pulled out the revolver spinning it once around just like before, “And this is Justice, my name is Red and if you ladies will excuse me, I've got to stop by the workshop before I head out to the cliff”, strapping his various pouches and whatnot to his armour, he holstered his weapons and strapped a knife to his right boot before saying, “I hope next time we have… time for a proper conversation, I'll see you tw around later, goodbye and good luck”, as they watched him leave, Yang said with a smile, “He seems like a nice enough guy”.


	4. Initiation pt 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know i know "but you said chapter summaries are for lazy losers blah blah blah" well at least this way I have something telling me to stay on topic (because I wrote this before I wrote the chapter)
> 
> This will be a Violet\Nexus focused chapter where we learn about the "who" for the former and the "why" for the latter.
> 
> (Spoiler: I still managed to go off topic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This installment will be decidedly less classy as I was unable to procure my usual mug of tea with honey...
> 
> In other news, I'm definitely going to rewrite the first two chapters if enough of you are interested because FUCK they're bad, so tell me if that sounds good to you... or not... READ AWAY!

As Nexus stood on the cliff face waiting for the rest of the students to take their places on the large metal pads, she took notice of a large black speck off in the distance, she pulled out a small pair of binoculars to get a better look,’hmm… nevermore, should we be worried about the concentration if grimm?’, as she prepared to ask Ozpin began speaking, “For years you have trained to become warriors”, he began.  
‘Oh great, another inspiring speech from our beloved headmaster’, Red snarked to himself.  
‘I get that giving speeches to students is like, the only time he gets to leave his office, but why can't he at least try to make them good’, Violet asked herself.  
“And today your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest”, he concluded.  
‘HOW MUCH AIR IS IN THAT WINDBAG’, Sandy exclaimed to herself while keeping a smile plastered to her face.  
‘Still no word on grimm concentration’, Nexus thought calmly.  
Glynda spoke up, “Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams”, she said smoothly, her voice perked up, “Well allow us to put an end to your confusion”, Sandy turned that smile into a smirk, ‘I change my mind, she is the windbag’, Glynda continued, “Each of you will be given teammates, today”, putting emphasis in the last word, ‘uh oh, that sounds ominous, why does it sound ominous’, Violet thought as she began to panic, “These teammates will be with you for the rest if your time here at Beacon, so it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well”, Ozpin said.  
‘I work alone thank you very much’, Red thought to himself.  
‘I hope I don't get stuck with some study-loving loser, just please let them be fun… and not racist’, Violet pleaded with whatever gods that may be listening.  
‘I hope they're competent’, both Sandy and Nexus unknowingly thought at once.

“That being said”, he continued, “the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years”, he finished curtly.  
‘Where’s my fucking knife, I need to blind somebody’, Red (hopefully) joked to himself.  
‘They'd better play nice’, Violet thought.  
‘THAT SADISTIC ASSHAT’, Sandy thought as a taste most unpleasant settled upon her tongue.  
“Well fuck”, Nexus simply stated.

“After you partnered up”, he continued, “make your way to the northern end of the forest, you will meet opposition along the way”.  
‘Opposition equals fun’, Red calculated.  
‘Eye contact? What kind of stupid thing is that?’, Violet wondered, thoughts still on partnerships.  
‘Bring it on you fucking monsters’, Sandy thought as she slung her rifle onto her back.  
Northern edge, expect grimm, Nexus jotted onto a notepad.

“Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path, or you will die”, he said gravely, “you will be monitored and graded for the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene”, he proclaimed with a decidedly less harrowing tone, “you will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics, each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff, we will regard that item as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately, are there any questions”, he finished, and as a boy in white armour attempted to gain Professor Ozpin's attention, he began speaking again, “Good now, take your positions”, as students did as such, Red looked around before covertly taking two steps back so that he was no longer on the plate, as his (empty) plate sprung from the ground, he took six steps forward and hopped off the cliff, sliding down with his left hand trailing behind him as he pulled his shotgun from it's holster.

(LIIIIIIIIIINE BREAK)

As Violet flew through the air she activated her semblance, summoning a series of steps consisting of several translucent pentagons roughly one foot in both length and width while being one inch thick, trotting happily along her path, each step dissipating behind her, she made her way to the treetops before climbing down to the forest floor.

‘Now, how am I supposed to do this, is it relic then partner or partner then relic? Maybe I shoud’ve asked about that…’, as she finished the thought, she spied, about twenty feety through the brush, an armour clad figure. She yelled, hoping to gain the figure’s attention.

________________________

As Nexus trundled through the woods she heard somebody call out behind and to the left of her, she turned around and saw an armour-clad girl.  
“So I guess this makes us partners?”, she said as she approached.  
“I guess it does, I'm Violet Ray”, she replied with a smile.  
“I'm Nexus Steele, I think that, judging by your weapon at least, you prefer to engage opponents from long range?”, she deduced, via the four-meter sniper rifle Violet was holding.  
“Yeah Triumph’s Lance isn't good for anything short of about ten meters, but the foregrip detaches and at the flick of a switch I've got a dust blade… in case things get to cramped, if you know what I mean, how about that spear of yours”, she asked.  
“Oh you mean Gungnir? Yeah it makes a great spear and all, but watch this.”, she said as the two-meter shaft folded in half, a grip, trigger guard and stock folding out, forming a slim rifle with a bayonet.  
“Neat… so what now?”, Violet wondered aloud.  
“I saw a clearing with some old ruins while I was still up in the air, we aren't that far from it.”, Nexus stated.

_________________________

 

As they approached the ruins, Nexus saw numerous pedestals arranged in a circle, some of which with various oddly-shaped things that she now recognized as chess pieces, “Well, I guess these are the relics right?”, she said, confused.

Violet hummed in thought, “Should we just grab one and go?”, she turned to face her partner. Off in the distance the sounds of a pack of beowolves on the prowl could be heard, “Black rook sound good?”, Nexus asked, a sense of worry evident in her tone, “As long as we're gone before they get here, yeah”, Violet replied.

________________________

 

“Professor Ozpin, I am receiving a report of an extraordinarily large pack of beowolves surrounding a pair of students, Doctor Oobleck isn't very far from them, should I send him to assist?”, Glynda stated curtly, “Are the students in an immediate threat of being overrun?”, he asked.

“No they are handling themselves very well but-”, she said quickly.

“Then I suggest we leave it to them, it will be a common occurrence for them in the future, but go ahead and send Oobleck in to… keep an eye on things”, he replied coolly

____________________________

 

In a large clearing about one-hundred metres from the site of the relics, Sandy Shoal slung her machine gun, Razorhail, onto her back and put her hands on her knees, she gasped for breath as the raucous snarling and barking grew closer, followed by the equally loud sound of a chainsaw intermingled with the occasional boom of a shotgun. A moment later, a lone beowolf came charging through the underbrush with a knife lodged into its armoured head, causing a dark fluid to leak out and stain its once pristine white skull, followed by Red who leapt onto it's back and, using the knife as a handhold, began carving into the back of it's neck using Lawless’ bayonet, as the beast squealed in agony and collapsed to the ground, dead, the rest of the pack burst into the clearing, surrounding the weary duo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please for the love of Seargent Johnson give me your thoughts and opinions.
> 
> In other news, I've finished the rewrite of chapter 1, so go check that out... or not, READ AWAY!


	5. Outnumbered but NEVER outgunned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where that whole "mature" rating starts to come... or not, READ AWAY!

“Well sunshine”, Sandy gasped for breath, “are you ready for phase two of your fucked-in-the-head plan?”, she said as she revved  _ her _ chainsaw bayonet.

“Call me sunshine again and you'll end up like cuddles over there”, he growled, gesturing to the rapidly decaying beowolf. “Are we still headed in the right direction?”, Sandy asked. Red dug through his pockets and pulled out a small compass, and, nodding, he pointed two fingers directly ahead of them and stated simply, “Dead ahead… fifteen yards through the brush”, they double-checked their weapons then locked eyes for a moment to make sure the other was ready, a stillness descended upon the forest as the snarling grimm ceased their barking as a  _ massive  _ alpha approached the front of the pack, the crowd parting to allow it through,”Well… FUCK.”, exclaimed Sandy, “I'll handle the bastard.”, Red muttered in response, “Alright, on three”, Sandy began, “one… two… th-”, as she was about to finish, the alpha let out a deafening howl that shook them both to the bone, as what she could only describe as what it felt like to stand next to a derailing freight train, and at that, the pack charged, the fight that followed was  _ exactly _ the kind everyone loves hearing about but never taking part in, after only a minute they were both covered in dirt, leaves and the black sludge that gushes out of a grimm when you  _ really  _ dig into it, from a bird's eye-view one would clearly be able to see that the pair had made it halfway to the edge of the clearing, but on the ground it was nothing but burning red eyes and jagged teeth being ripped apart by shining steel. After a few more minutes of shredding, blasting and (courtesy of Sandy) cussing out everything that opposed them, the only thing that stood between then and the ruins was the alpha beowolf, two heartbeats and an inhuman growl passed by before a silent agreement was made between our weary duo, as Red charged the beast, Sandy laid suppressive fire until the beowolf was within his weapons (admittedly short) range, as he pulled the trigger, he heard the one sound capable of striking fear into the heart of every huntsman,  _ click _ , cracking open Lawless and ejecting the malfunctioning shell, he dodged a swipe from the alpha’s massive claws, reaching for another shell, he ran into the  _ other _ thing capable of scaring a huntsman, ‘ _ I‘m out of ammo _ ’, as he was lost in thought, he was unable to avoid the swipe of the paw, sending him sprawling into the dirt, seeing this, Sandy began advancing towards the grimm shouting at it to draw its attention, “YOU WRETCHED SPAWN OF SHIT! I'LL CUT OUT YOUR FUCKING HEART!”, drawn away from Red's unmoving form by the commotion, it let out another ghastly roar and charged, plowing into her with the force of a large truck, it knocked Razorhail from her hands and clamped its jaws around her head, she struggled feebly in its grasp as one of its daggers-that-pass for teeth pierced her visor, thankfully stopping before it reached her eye, and at that moment, two thunderous booms (as if the heavens themselves had split open) sounded within the clearing, yelping in pain the alpha released her from its maw and turned to face whatever had interrupted its meal, (barely) standing not five metres away, Red held Justice, smoke still billowing from the barrel, and his knife in the other, “Go ahead, make my day”, he spat out, the beowolf growled before turning back to Sandy's crumpled form, and at that, Red fired twice more before the beowolf turned and pounced at him, he ducked to late as it had taken hold of his revolver, crushing it, seeing his turn to pounce, he leapt onto its back and began carving into its eye with his knife, as the alpha bellowed out in agony, Red twisted the knife, causing it to sink a few inches deeper and cutting off its cries with a sickening  _ squelch _ as it collapsed, dead, he slipped off of it and gathered Lawless and Razorhail, limping to his partner, he helped her onto her feet.

 

As they trudged their way through the woods, they came upon the ruins, leaning against each other for support, they gathered a look around, Sandy shouted “I ALMOST DIED FOR A CHESS PIECE?”, Red sighed before mumbling “Just grab one so we can go”, stumbling from the safety of her living crutch, she limped over to the nearest pedestal and swiped the relic from its place, removing her battered helmet, she placed the relic inside and tucked it under her arm, turning to face her partner, she cocked her hips and slapped a grin on her face before inquiring, “Ready for phase three”, Red shook his head in bemusement.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEEEASE leave a comment


	6. Red Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We learn a lot more a bout Red than you would think there is to him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a bit wordy, but imagine it like a campfire story, but instead of a camp its a school that teaches you how to kill monsters, and instead of a fire its a giant desk with spinning gears in it... or not... READ AWAY!

As students had gathered to hear their team assignments, our intrepid would-be heroes were suffering through another of Ozpin's long-winded spiels about who-knows-what (although Violet was beginning to enjoy them for some sick, twisted reason), and putting together the teams, both Sandy and Red had taken notice of the fact that he was grouping them based upon what chess piece the partners had picked, they decided to find the other pair that had taken the black rook, it took a while, taking into account the sheer amount of people they had to wade through, asking each and everyone in turn what they had picked, until Sandy came across a pair of girls, also in unpainted grey armour, she slipped in beside them and whispered, “Hey, you two wouldn't have happened to have grabbed the black rook by chance, would you?”, sharing a confused glance, a quick moment passed by before the tall one with brown hair in a bob-cut responded, “Uh, yeah why?”, Sandy gave a sigh of relief before pulling Red away from the wall he was leaning against, “Haven't you been paying attention?Red and I figured out that Professor Ozpin is partnering up people who picked the same chess pieces”, the girl nodded before saying, “Oh, yeah, I'm just trying not to fall asleep, this stuff is pretty boring, I'm Nexus, and this is Violet”, at the mention of her name, she turned her attention away from Ozpin and on to the conversation, “Huh, what's u- YOU!”, she locked eyes with Red (who was still wearing his helmet), “That wasn't funny you know”, she spat out, “I was telling the truth”, he spoke, nonchalantly, as Ozpin moved on from the previous team (named BLAZ), he cleared his throat before listing off more names, “Violet Ray, Nexus Steele, Red Bark and Sandy Shoal”, he spoke clearly, as they heard their names they turned away from the conversation and began heading towards the platform, Sandy and Nexus sharing a nervous glance as Violet stared daggers into the back of Red's head, as they stepped onto the platform, Ozpin continued, “You shall henceforth be known as… team RVSN, led by, Red Bark”, both Nexus and Red cautiously stepped forward to speak with him as he turned to, no doubt, give them a few “encouraging” words, Nexus spoke first, “ Um, Professor?”, she pointed to the team name up on the screen, “The “S” is silent”, he responded, a smile on his face, “Ah, funny”, she said dryly, he then turned to Red, who leaned in and whispered, “Look, Ozzy, this is  _ not _ a  _ good idea _ , why am  _ I _ the one in charge?”, he said through clenched teeth, “We can discuss this later”, he said coldly, smile dropping from his face, he returned to the podium as team RVSN exited the platform, “Cardin Winchester…”, he continued.

 

_________________________

  
  


After stopping by their lockers to drop off their weapons and change out of their combat gear and into their new uniforms, team RVSN arrived at their assigned dorm, Nexus opened the door and stepped inside, seeing two beds against each wall, a desk with some shelves above it to the left of her and what she presumed was the bathroom door to her right, she sidestepped to let the rest if the team inside, Violet zipped inside and leapt face first onto the first bed on the left, sighing contently, “Soooo comfy”, she mumbled through the pillow, Red came in next, “In that case, I'll take the one that is farthest from”, setting his stuff (true to his word) on the second bed to the right side of the room before taking a seat on it and leaning against the wall, Sandy turned to Nexus before asking, “Do you mind if I take the one by the window?”, Nexus smiled devilishly before replying, “Not if you don't mind me taking the one closest to the bathroom”, she said before leaping through the air onto said bed, landing on her side, one hand under her chin, the other on her hip and a big, stupid grin on her face, Sandy placed her hands on her hips and gave an equally stupid grin, “I guess I should have seen that coming”, at that moment, somebody behind her cleared their throat, causing her to let out a yelp, gaining the attention of her team, “Ozpin will see you now”, Goodwitch spoke.

 

_________________________

  
  


The elevator ride up was filled with a long, awkward silence, broken only by the elevator’s ticking away at the floor numbers on its readout. 

 

As they reached Ozpin's office, the doors dinged open, everyone except Glynda made a move to exit, as Red took a step forward, she put a hand on his shoulder saying, “He already spoke with you, this is for your team”, Red turned and froze in thought before speaking, “I see, you're my tutor then?”, she removed her hand and placed both behind her back, “Quite an astute deduction, Mr. Bark, may I ask how you came to that conclusion?”, he stepped inside the elevator, she pushed the button that would take them to the ground floor, “Professor Ozpin is far too busy to help me himself, and he would want someone he trusts implicitly but this is a delicate task and he would want it handled  _ properly _ so that rules out any of the teachers, and before you ask, I know this because if you get his...”, he paused, searching for the right word, “ _ Informant _ , juuuust the right amount of drunk, you couldn't shut him up if you glued his mouth shut”, he finished, “Qrrrroww”, she grumbled.

  
  


__________________________

  
  
  


“Is this about that _horrible_ attempt at a joke that he made?”, Violet spoke up, Ozpin put on a stern expression before saying, “It was neither a joke, nor was it a lie, in fact, it was not a fabrication of any sort, he spoke the full, honest, truth”, he said flatly, “Okay, we're definitely missing something here”, Sandy said, he cleared his throat, “Have either of you heard of the Maniac of Mistral?”, receiving confused shakes of their heads, he continued, “I thought not, that tale doesn't stray far from home, in fact, I would very much like to know about how you heard of it, Miss Ray”, said, giving Violet a questioning glance, “Some old friends of mine heard about it from a bar in Mistral… they traveled a lot”, leaning back in his chair, he folded his hands together before continuing, “As you know, the kingdom of Mistral has a high population of bandits, well the story goes that about five years back, a particular tribe of bandits ransacked a small village, killing many, and of course, a while after that, the grimm came through, officially, there were no survivors, according to the myth, which had come from the bandits themselves, this had outraged the spirits of the land, and so they sent forth a being of chaos, and death, whose sole purpose was to wipe the tribe off the face of Remnant, camp by camp, bandit by bandit, the bandits called this being the Red Death, as it was garbed in a red cloak, the people of Mistral believed it to be a simple vigilante, a man they believed to filled with a lust for vengeance so great as to render him insane, because nobody in their right mind would attempt to wage war on an entire camp of bandits, let alone a whole tribe, single handedly, regardless of the origin of this man, he wiped out the entire tribe, which was spread out across the entire kingdom, in _three years_ , I had heard of the exploits of this figure around the second year of his slaughter, I sent a trusted colleague of mine to reign him in, it took him another year to track him down, compounded by the fact that the Red Deat had succeeded in his efforts and so ceased all activity, he didn't have any leads until he heard about a hermit living in a cave deep in the wilderness of Mistral, what he found could not have subverted expectations further if he tried, a boy, fifteen years old, reading a book, and, not only expecting his arrival, but preparing for it as well, I am told the tea was fantastic, after spending a few days with the young man, it was very clear to him that the so called “Maniac of Mistral” was very _very_ _insane_ , after much deliberation between the two of us, we decided to take him to Atlas, where he could receive proper mental help, it seemed to be working, until the Atlas military decided to use him as a weapon, on his first mission, undertaken in secret”, at this, Ozpin began chuckling to himself before regaining his composure, “He wound up crashing a nevermore into General Ironwood’s favorite coffee shop, using the chaos that followed to escape, a month ago, I walked into that very elevator over there and found my colleague standing inside, he tried, and failed, to prevent me from entering my office, and, sitting in this very chair was that very man, he had three demands, one, that I help him learn to control his semblance, and two, that I give him a huntsman licence”, he took a sip from his coffee mug, clearly finished with his tale, “And the third?”, Nexus said, barely raising her voice above her own breath, “Hmm? Oh yes, he wanted a glass of water”, he said as if he didn't have a care in the world, “How?”, asked Violet, “Uh, from a faucet?”, came Ozpin's confused response, “No, I mean how did he… kill all those people without control over his semblance?”, he looked at her before answering, “How very astute of you to notice that, but I believe you have answered your own question, he _did not_ have control.”, Nexus took in a deep breath before speaking in a voice fraught with uncertainty, “Why are you telling us this? Why did you agree to that and are we safe?”, he took another swig of coffee before answering, “Because it would be better if you knew now and from me, because, he doesn't want it to happen again, and I can personally guarantee that you are perfectly safe”, he said, quite sure of himself. “He's afraid of himself isn't he?”, Violet said to herself, Ozpin's expression turned into a very worried one, “Yes, he won't admit it, but I know that he doesn't want to hurt _anyone_ ever again”, he said sadly, “Then why is he such a jerk?”, he smiled before replying, “Because you can't hurt someone who isn't there, sound logic, but it does leave one lonely.”, at that, he called the meeting to a close, and bade them back to their dorm, but not before giving one last piece of advice, “And you don't have to worry about accidentally activating his semblance, it is not triggered by emotions, rather, it is a conscious decision, like a light switch… that's been taped into the “off” position, with ten layers of duct tape and a warning sign saying “do not touch”... that analogy kind of backfired didn't it? Anyways I told him I told you, so he knows you know, goodnight ladies, remember to get a good night's rest because tomorrow is your first day of classes”, he said with _way_ to much genuine cheer.

 

As the elevator doors closed behind them, Nexus spoke up, “I kinda feel bad for him.”, Violet nodded in agreement, “Me too, he lost everything”, Sandy spoke up for the first time since they entered Ozpin's office, “I thought it was awesome… not the “losing everything” thing, but the “wiping the bandits out” thing”, she said with a smile that disappeared after she noticed the death glares coming from either side of her.


	7. Nope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was going to make this chapter longer but I decided to cut the last section and move it to chapter 8 because I think it might work out better that way, or not... READ AWAY!

 

As they walked the halls back to their dorm room, Violet dared to break the silence that had creeped up on them, “Well that was certainly… _interesting_ ”, Nexus took in a deep breath before replying, “No”, Sandy, confused, began asking, “But what abo-”, before Nexus cut her off, “We will _never_ speak of this again”, the next few minutes were spent in silence, as they entered their quarters, they heard the sink running in the bathroom, as the faucet was shut off, the door opened and their leader stepped out in his nightwear (an oversized red t-shirt and black sweatpants) placing his toothbrush back into his bag of toiletries,  he looked up and saw his team, continuing his shuffle towards his bed, he gave his first official command as leader of Team RVSN, “Get ready for bed, we will discuss what you heard after classes are done tomorrow”, and, at that, he face planted onto his bed, pulled the covers over himself, and drifted off into the land of rest and dreams.

“I guess we will speak of this again after all.”, Sandy said.

 

___________________________

  


Violet awoke to the sound of rustling paper, intermittent humming and (due to her heightened sense of hearing) the faint sounds of operatic or quite possibly orchestral music, grabbing her scroll from the nightstand, she checked the time, ‘ _who could be up at three-thirty in the morning_?’, she questioned herself, looking to the source of the noise she saw their leader sitting at the desk flipping through some papers wearing (true to his name) red headphones, she slid out of bed and smoothed out her purple nightgown before stepping over to his side and waving to get his attention.

He pulled his headphones down onto his shoulders before turning the swivel chair to face her, leaning back and placing his right foot over his left knee. “What’re you doing?”, she questioned, “Cross referencing our class schedules with a map of Beacon to find the shortest routes along with a few alternates in case the halls are to crowded”, he replied nonchalantly.

 

“At three-thirty?”, she said blankly.

“Couldn't sleep… did I wake you?”, he said with an equally bland tone.

“Nah I may be a light sleeper but that honour goes to miss snores-a-lot”, she said as she jabbed a thumb in Sandy's direction, who -as if on cue- let out a sound that one could be forgiven for mistaking for that of an angry hog, they both stared in silence for a moment before Violet took a seat on her bed.

 

“C- can I ask you something?”, Violet mumbled sheepishly, reaching across her chest to place a hand on her arm. Receiving a blink and a nod as confirmation, she continued.

“If you… _killed_ all those people... why did the Headmaster let you in?”, she asked hesitantly. Taking a moment to form a response, he took a quick breath before exhaling slowly, “I… don't know.”, she gave him a look that told him she wasn't convinced, turning the chair back around he quickly scribbled something on one of the papers before handing it to Violet, “This map is yours, don't lose it.”, thanking him, she looked it over before she folded it up and put it next to her scroll, “I'm gonna try to get some more sleep in before we have to get up, you should to”, nodding in agreement he spoke with a yawn, “Yours was the last one, goodni- well… morning, I guess”, and with that, he trundled off to bed, Violet’s thoughts began to drift to her past, living on the streets in Menagerie, joining the White Fang, leaving when they turned violent, how spending her life running from one place to the next was taking its toll on her and how long she would be here before she had to run again before the fog of exhaustion settled on her mind and she drifted off to sleep.

 

____________________________

  


The birds were chirping and the sun was shining as team RVSN finished readying themselves for the day, everything from hair-care to modifying their uniforms to fit their personal tastes, Nexus added a red stripe to the right arm of her jacket, Sandy donned a pair of blue tinted goggles and fingerless leather gloves, Violet wore a purple cap, while Red had his combat boots and greaves, “Alright ladies, we've got two hours till class starts, which gives us an hour to eat breakfast, it should only take us fifteen minutes to get to class and we can spend the remaining time to… I don't know… stuff?”, Red announced oh-so horribly, “To stuff?”, Nexus said with a grin, the only reply she received was a shrug as he turned and opened the door, gesturing for them to go through.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to leave a comment.


	8. WAKE THE FUCK UP

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was still writing this, I was woken up at 4:46 in the morning by my cat, or more specifically, by the baby bunny squealing in fear under the kitchen table because of the cat.... It's gonna be one of THOSE days isn't it? (Or not, read away, yadda yadda yadda)

As RVSN sat down with their meals in the cafeteria, they enjoyed a comfortable silence while they ate, but after a while, Sandy's eyes went wide and she began frantically pawing at her pockets, “Whatcha lookin’ for”, Violet said groggily, the edges of sleep still clinging onto her, “I left my scroll in the room”, she said as she began to rise out of her seat, but was beaten to the punch by Red, “I'll get it for you, I needed a break from all this noise anyway”, Nexus tilted her head, face full of confusion, “But none of us have said anything for fifteen minutes”, Red had already begun walking away as he spoke over his shoulder, “I wasn't talking about you three”, Violet blinked, “Ish to early fer this crap”, she mumbled before narrowly avoiding face-planting into her eggs.

 

“Sandy, can I ask you something about Red?”, Nexus’ voice barely above a murmur.

“What makes you think I would know anything about him?”, she answered, mouth full of pancakes.

“Because he's your partner?”, Sandy hummed in response before taking a moment to collect her thoughts (and swallow).

“Other than the fact that he doesn't like people, I don't know very much, although… when we were fighting that pack of beowolves during the initiation, I saw that his fighting style was like a- like… the best way I can describe it is  _ calculated brutality _ , its like he knew exactly where, when and what to do, to cause the most amount of damage possible, that shotgun of his can punch through a beowolf like it's made out of wet tissue paper… but those are just facts about him, I don't know any personal details or anything, whatever is going on up here is an absolute mystery to me”, she said as she pointed to her head.

“And that doesn't worry you?”.

“Oh don't get me wrong, it scares the fucking piss outta me, but the one thing I can glean from that mind if his is that if he wanted to hurt us he would've done it by now, he's an act first, think later kind of guy”.

“Uh-huh”.

“Yep”, she answered as she took another mouthful of syrup-slathered goodness into her mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one was shorter than usual, I decided to split this one into two parts because the other half (if everything goes to plan) is going to be longer than usual.
> 
> The bunny is fine, by the way...


End file.
